Hi Natalie-- There are references that I have found that say Eleonora's steel corsets were made by Master Lorenzo (I think that was his name...) who was Cosimo's cuirassier (armor maker). She wanted these to give her support so she could make public appearances with Cosimo.
My opinion about Norris: While he was a wonderful source for his time, much has been written since then. If you need to look at his work, follow it up with work from more modern scholars. It takes some work to do it, but it is out there. Monica -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Natalie Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 9:57 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] Eleanor of Toledo 1545 help >> If you look at the text of Janet Arnold's book she says something about > the >> velvet bodice overlapping in the front. Eleonora had been suffering from > TB >> on and off, getting progressively worse , since 1549/ 50 until her death. > In >> the early stages she wore a taffeta covered steel corset (not recommended >> for the modern woman). > > Again I'm curious about this. Is this mentioend in the new Moda di Firenze > book as well? Would this have been for medicinal reasons? Faure did > recommend splinting body parts with metal for certain diseases. A definite > link between Eleanora's wasting disease (as it would probably have been > called) and needing a metal corset would help in this area of research. I know not many like Norris, but I'm almost positive I've seen this in other places... I just can't find it at the moment. Anyway, in Tudor Costume and Fashion in the part about corsets, he has a drawing, copied from an existing iron corset from about 1530. He writes a whole paragraph on it, but basically says that these were somewhat common in England from 1533 to the 1580's, being made from iron and covered with soft leather, silk, or other materials.they were hinged on one side and fastened by hook and/or bolts. He says they were first made by Italians and Catherine de' Medici brought some in her trousseau when she came to France in 1533. So... take it with a grain of salt, it coming from Norris, but like I said, I am almost positive I've seen this elsewhere. I'm not sure if your question about the metal corset was about Eleanora specifically, or the corsets in general, but I hope that helps! Natalie _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
